In 2020, everything is personalized. This might still be hyperbole, but just barely. Advances in technology and data analytics have created a consumer market where customers actually expect their favorite companies to know every detail about them. Our society has largely gone from being hesitant to enter our credit card information online to being annoyed when we have to manually enter a credit card number because we are used to our browsers simply remembering that information for us.
Marketing campaigns are no different. If anything, customers are more likely than ever to expect ads to be targeted directly to them. This phenomenon has reached the point where many Google ad services will actively allow consumers to stop seeing ads because they are not relevant. Today, we will discuss why personalized marketing campaigns are a must for any brand.
Defining Personalized Marketing AKA Individual Marketing
Personalized marketing, also sometimes referred to as “one-on-one” marketing or individual marketing, is a form of micromarketing which uses customer information to present brand materials that might be of particular interest. Personalized marketing can take a number of forms, including:
- Marketing materials that use customer data to create emails or advertisements with relevant customer information in the body. This creates a sense of personalization despite it being nothing more than a computer program.
- Using algorithms to predict customer needs. This can lead to upselling existing customers, boost customer loyalty, and much more.
- Using a “rewind” to remind customers of the good times. This might be something like Spotify Rewind or a Google Photos self-created album from a vacation. These types of personalized marketing campaigns target current customers to boost brand loyalty.
The Benefits of Personalized Marketing
As Forbes puts it: “Serving the right message to the right customer (at the correct time, on the best platform) makes your message resonate that much more.” This is truly the heart of personalized marketing. The best branding materials in the world will not do your company much good if they don’t reach the correct eyes at the correct time and in the correct way. Personalized marketing aims to solve these problems in one fell swoop.
Approximately 86% of consumers report that personalization has at least some impact on their purchase decisions, with about one quarter of respondents indicating that personalization has a significant influence. As we will see below, brands can use a variety of tactics to implement personalized marketing in a way that drives sales, leaves customers satisfied, and delivers the biggest bang for their marketing buck.
Examples of Successful Personalized Marketing Campaigns
Let’s explore some examples of brands that have used personalized marketing campaigns to drive sales, promote customer loyalty, and improve customer experience overall.
Amazon Knows its Customers
There is a reason that Amazon is the number one online retailer on the planet. They have a ludicrous library of products, excellent customer service, and they use personalized marketing practices to know their customers better than any other company. The Amazon algorithms for predicting customer needs and strategically rearranging their site for maximum customer engagement has grabbed headlines for years.
O2 Uses Geospatial Data for Maximum Results
UK mobile phone and service provider O2 used a personalized marketing campaign that used customer mobile device information to target ads and suggestions for users based on an algorithm of customer behavior. These ads were shown to be 128% more successful than non-targeted mobile ads.
Netflix Personalized Menus and More
Netflix has over 60 million subscribers today. There are many reasons for that success, not least of which is the dynamic menu options that utilize user behavior and preferences to make suggestions on content. Similar to what Amazon did for e-commerce, Netflix has customized the home entertainment space.
Developing a Personalized Marketing Campaign
Personalized marketing campaigns, by nature, cannot follow any one mold. Yet the basics of successful personalized marketing campaigns do follow a similar path. Here are some high level tips on developing a personalized marketing campaign:
- Understand your users first. Are your users tech savvy adults, pre-teens, or 65 plus? Demographics inform which personalized features will likely work best.
- Value targeted data. No personalized marketing campaigns would be possible without it. The strength of the data is the basis of the campaign.
- Utilize the customer feedback loop. The best personalized ad campaigns adapt over time. Using customer feedback to inform future decisions is a must.
- Stay true to your brand. The heart of all successful marketing campaigns is staying true to your brand identity, personality, and core message. Letting the desire to customize supercede this need is likely a mistake.
Clock Tower Insight Creates Branding Solutions
At Clock Tower Insight, we turn data into business solutions. By maximizing brand positioning, CX management, moments of influence, and more, we help build our clients brands in the short and long term. Clock Tower Insight believes that happy customers equal a happy business. We work closely with clients to tailor their brand from top to bottom in order to maximize positive image, exposure, and sales.
To learn more about how we may be able to help your business grow, read about our 15 plus years of focused experience working with brands such as Starbucks, Kraft, McDonald’s, and much more.